What made Cincinnati one of the most important cities in America in the 1800s? Why was it and is it so darn special? Cincinnati is a city of firsts, and it still is. We aim to shed light on the women and queer folk who have changed this city throughout its history. And the everyday people – those who time may have forgotten.
These are the people who have influenced our lives, and we just haven’t known it. Until now.
Our Mission
Queens of Queen City is a public history project dedicated to uncovering Cincinnati’s hidden histories of women and queer folks – in a variety of ways – through public engagements and media. This project is meant to inspire and empower everyone to be informed of current issues through a historical, systemic lens so that they are equipped to make decisions and take action for a more equitable, inclusive, kinder future.
About Us
Sean E. Andres, Co-Founder
Sean E. Andres is a marketer, writer, and former educator. He has a B.S. in Secondary English/Language Arts Education with a focus on women writers during the Civil War and M.S. in Marketing with a focus on diversity marketing from applied feminist and race theory. He co-founded Queens of Queen City with Chelsie J. Hoskins in 2017. Sean currently serves on the boards for the Cincinnati Observatory Center and Mac-A-Cheek Foundation for the Humanities. He loves to be outdoors among the trees and woodland critters when he’s not glued to the computer—researching, writing, and working.
Chelsie J. Hoskins, Co-Founder
Chelsie J. Hoskins is a writer and educator, as well as a former Over-the-Rhine tour guide and marketer. She has a B.S. in English Literature and Anthropology and a M.S. in English. When she isn’t teaching, Chelsie can be found spending time with her sassy, energetic wizard-kittens. Chelsie can command an audience at a beer hall without a microphone. If you mention that she looks like Agent Peggy Carter, you’ll win her heart forever. That’s what Sean did!
Jacob Hogue, Contributor, Queen City Queer History Founder
Jacob Hogue is an historian and writer with a master’s in Public History at Northern Kentucky University. Jacob is the administrator of the Queen City Queer History Instagram and is working on his debut book, Cincinnati Before Stonewall: The Untold Queer History of the Queen City. Jacob also serves on the board of directors at Urbanist Media where he has written scripts for Cincinnati Public Radio as well as put on exhibits and panels about LGBTQ+ history in Cincinnati.
Our History
What started out as a creative writing project with research rabbit-holed into an extensive, wide-cast, full-fledged research project. Much of this research would never be seen in the creative writing project, though. This website never came to fruition until a trip to the Cincinnati Observatory in April 2017, in which we discovered the crucial role of women in the first observatory in the U.S., and Louisa Mitchel was not mentioned in any websites, not even on Wikipedia!
In August 2022, Queens of Queen City was acquired by Urbanist Media and operated under it as a nonprofit entity.
In May 2023, Queens of Queen City brought in Jacob Hogue, who runs the Queen City Queer History Instagram, to include queer history. After, all we already had the perfect name.
In December 2024, Queens of Queen City left the Urbanist Media collective and aims for nonprofit status itself. They will be partnering on projects together in the future.
Queens of Queen City 